Transfer to Jaffna by road, on your way to Jaffna visit MannarAdam’s Bridge and evening reach to Jaffna

Route:

Colombo Fort > Mannar Adam’s Bridge > Jaffna

Distance:

approx: 430 Km

Drive Time:

approx: 8 hours drive

Meal Plan:

Bed & Breakfast

Places that can visit on this day:

Adam's Bridge

Adams Bridge or Rama‘s Bridge is a series of small islands, sand banks and corals, 18 miles long, connecting the southern tip of India at Danushkodi to Talaimannar in north-western Sri Lanka. Some believe that it is the bridge that Hanuman built for Rama to cross to Sri Lanka with his army to rescue his wife Sita from Ravana, the king of Sri Lanka.

Day2

Program:

Breakfast at the Hotel. Day Tour to Delft Island, NagadeepaIsland (Nainathive Island)

Route:

Jaffna > Delft Island > Nagadeepa

Distance:

Maximum: 100 Km

Drive Time:

7.30am to 5.30pm

Meal Plan:

Bed & Breakfast

Places that can visit on this day:

Delft Island Fort

This island was called by the Portuguese ilha das Vacas, had a fort built by them. The Dutch called it Delft Island. The Tamils call it the Neduntheevu or Neduntivu. This is the largest island in the Palk Strait, northern Sri Lanka. Very little of the fort remains today but the book "Romantic Ceylon: its history, legend, and story" By Ralph Henry Bassett describes the fort and the island in detail.

Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya

The Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya is one of the sixteen most sacred places of worship by the Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Pilgrims have been coming to the Nagadeepa since about the 1st century AC to worship at its famous Rajayathana stupa. The Rajayathana stupa was constructed by two warring Naga kings, Chulodara and Mahodara, at the site where Lord Buddha during His second visit to the country on a Bak Maha Amawaka Poya Day, five years after attaining Enlightenment, intervened and mediated in settling a dispute over the possession of a gem-studded throne. The precious throne was offered to the lord Buddha, was returned to the Naga Kings and was later enshrined in this Rajayathana stupa.

Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple

Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple is an ancient and historic Hindu temple located amidst the Palk Strait on the island of Nainativu, Sri Lanka. It is dedicated to Parvati who is known as Nagapooshani or Bhuvaneswari and her consort, Shiva who is named here as Nayinaar. The temple's fame is accredited to Adi Shankaracharya, a 9th-century Hindu philosopher, for identifying it as one of the prominent 64 Shakti Peethams in Shakti Peetha Stotram and its mention in the Brahmanda Purana.

Ancient Kadurugoda Viharaya

The site was discovered in 1917 by the Magistrate P.E. Pieris where he reported that bricks from this site are being carried away by cart loads by the residents around the area for building of houses. An excavation done in the 1917-1919 has unearthed remains of a shrine room, parts of Buddha Statues, Bodhisattva statues, Buddha foot imprints and coins belonging to pre christian era. Kantarodai (Kadurugoda) in Chunnakam (Hunugama) has been identified as the Kadurugoda Viharaya in the Nam Pota, a book of important Buddhist centers in Sri Lanka, compiled in the Kandyan period.
The term Kantarodai is a corrupted form of the Singhalese word Kandavurugoda or site of a military encampment. The Kandavurugoda became Kadurugoda and it was tamilised in to Kantarodai. In 1917, P.E. Pieris has located 56 Stupas in the area but today only about 20 remains. The largest is about 23 feet in diameter and the smallest is about 6 feet. There are also numbers of foundations of stupas which have disappeared. The stupas are made of coral stone and are gray in colour. They have a very distinguished design with small holes all over. The stupas don't have the standard"Hathares Kotuwa" above the dome. Instead a pinnacle is fixed to the top of the dome.

Point Padro Lighthouse

Point Padro light house lies in the North Eastern corner of Sri Lanka. Built in 1916, this is 32 m (105 ft) tall. Access to the light house was restricted for the last 30 years due to the Tamil Terrorists in the area. After the defeat of the last strong holds of the terrorists in end 2009, the public can now have access to this area. Currently this lighthouse is inside a Naval Base and is used as watch tower.

Nalavarai Bottomless Well

Nalavarai Bottomless Well located 14km north of Jaffna town. It is popular among local tourist for its square well of unknown depth. Nilavarai Bottomless Well has a large square well believed to be formed from an arrow shot by Hanuman to satisfy thirst ofRama. This is famous as the depth unknown (bottomless) well.

Dambakola Patuna

Dambakola Patuna or Jambukola Patuna is an ancient port in the north of Jaffna which was used during pre christian times. After Arahath Mahinda brought Bhuddhism to Sri Lanka in 250BC, his sister, Theri Sanghamitta arrived in Sri Lanka with a Sacred Bo Sapling one year later to this port. The temple Samudda-panasala ( Jambukola Viharaya) was built commemorating the arrival of the Bo sapling by King Devanampiya Tissa (250-210 BC). Later, the same king planted one of the first eight shots of the Sri Maha Bodhi, on the same place where he kept the original tree before bringing it to Anuradhapura. King Vijayabahu I (1070-1110) has restored this site. The remains of the vihara, such as the Buddha footprint stone and vatadage seen up to recent times no longer exist there.
This port gradually faded in importance while port Mahathiththa/ Mahathota/ Mantota (now Mantai) located at the mouth of Malvatu oya developed as a key intersection of sea-routes and the Dambakola Patuna Viharaya was lost in time. The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka, the Mahavamsa and Samanthapaasasdika mention pilgrims coming from "Yonaka" country to Jambukola to worship the Jambukola Viharaya in the ancient times. Unfortunately today there is nothing on the temple which shows any antiquity. Most of the structures in the temple including the stupa which has been completed in a record 65 days have been done by the Sri Lankan Navy. Even the current bo tree was planted in 1998 by the Navy.

Manalkadu Sand Dunes

Manalkadu sand dunes are mini version of a desert. The acres of sand dunes are also found covered with thick bush while beyond the dunes one can spot one of the most beautiful beaches of the Northern Province.

Jaffna Fort

Situated on the south side of the Jaffna peninsula at the water’s edge of the lagoon, the ancient fort in Jaffna is the second largest existing fort in the Island. Originally built by the Portuguese in 1619 and re-built and expanded by the Dutch during the second half of the 17th and the 18th centuries to facilitate trading activities of Sri Lanka’s northern region indicate not only of Jaffna’s strategic importance to Europeans but its significance throughout Sri Lanka’s history.
The five sided inner defense works consist of thick and high ramparts and bastions with a wide and deep moat around it. The layout resembles a geometrically regular pentagon which is defined by the ramparts with a bastion at each corner of the pentagon. Beyond these defense works is the star shaped moat, the outline of which roughly follows the bastion and rampart walls. The outer defense works include the glacis, the ravelins and a covered way. Unlike the Dutch forts at Galle and Colombo, which were fortified towns, the Jaffna Fort had an almost exclusively military and administrative function. The fort is the only surviving example in Sri Lanka, where its inner defenses has a geometrically regular pentagonal layout. Moreover this is the only example in the Island, where outer fortifications consisting of glacis, ravelins and covered way are to be seen.

Library at Jaffna

The origins of the Jaffna Library can be traced to the generosity and foresightedness of a book lover named K.M. Chellappah, who in 1933 began sharing the collection of his books among friends and fellow men with the view to enhancing their knowledge. This generous gesture was highly appreciated by the local community, which then decided to build a proper library. A committee headed by the then District Judge as Chairman, Rev. Dr. Isaac Thambiah as Vice-Chairman, and K.M. Chellappah and C. Ponnambalam as Joint Secretaries was formed on 9 June 1934.
The committee decided to collect or buy as many ancient ola leaf manuscripts as possible from the villages of Jaffna and other areas where Tamil culture thrived. The embryonic Jaffna library was opened on 1 August 1934 with a collection of just 844 books and about 30 magazines and newspapers in a small room at Hospital Road, opposite the present electrical sub-station. From here, the library was moved to a rented house on Main Street near the Town Hall in 1936. Books could be borrowed on a payment of a nominal sum of Rs. 3 as membership fee. It had a starting capital of Rs. 1,184 and 22 cents largely from the efforts of Chellappah. The Jaffna Library became hugely popular among the people, both young and old.

Archaeological Museum

The Jaffna Archaeological Museum displays many Sinhala and Tamil antiques. A Buddha statue, Bodhisaththva statue, a stone scripture and some coins of the 1st and 2nd centuries found in Kantharodai Archaeological Site and upper part of a Buddha statue found in Nilavarai are kept at Jaffna museum. Archaeological Museum situated on Main Street near the old rest house. The museum is open to public from 8.30 AM to 4.30 am every day except for Tuesdays.

Nallur Kovil

Nallur Kandasamy Temple lies about 1.5km from the Jaffna town on the KKS (Kankasanthurai) Road. This is one of the most important temples in the Jaffna Peninsula and the most well known. The history of the temple dates back to the time of King Parakramabahu VI (1411-1463) of Kotte Kingdom . King Parakramabahu VI had two adopted sons, Sapumal Kumaraya (prince) and Ambulugala Kumaraya (prince). The king sent prince Sapumal to the north where the South Indian Vijayanagar Empire was trying to attach Jaffna. The prince successfully drove away the invaders killing the king Arya Chakravarthi, and brought his wife and children to Kotte . The King Parakramabahu VI appointed the Prince Sapumal as the regional ruler of Jaffna. It was this prince who built the Nallur Kovil for the hindu people of Jaffna. Prince Sapumal later had to leave Jaffna to take over the Kingship of the whole island at Kotte . He was consecrated as King Buwanekabahu VI of Kotte . The Portuguese who captured Jaffna in 1560, demolished the Temple leaving no traces in 1621. The temple then stood at Sankili Thopu on the eastern side of the Point Pedro Road (The site was later used for erecting a Christian Church) Jaffna again fell to Dutch in 1658. They were more tolerant on religious freedom and the temple was allowed to be rebuilt in the current location in 1734 by Don Juan Mappana Mudaliyar as a humble temple dedicated to lord Murugan. The descendants of Mappana Mudaliyar, who were the temple trustees, had taken the task of restoring the temple to its present splendor.

Day6

Program:

Breakfast at the Hotel. visit Anuradhapura Historic city and transfer to East Coast / Colombo by road

Route:

Anuradhapura > East Coast > Colombo

Distance:

approx: 210 Km

Drive Time:

approx: 4 hours drive

END OF THE TOUR

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